Irene Ryan
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Irene Ryan (October 17, 1902 – April 26, 1973) was Emmy and Tony Award nominated actress, one of the few entertainers who found success in vaudeville, radio, film, television and Broadway.
She is most widely known for her portrayal of "Granny" on the long running TV series The Beverly Hillbillies (1962-1971), for which was nominated for Emmy Awards for "Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actress in a Series (Lead)" in 1963 and 1964.
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[edit] Personal life
Ryan was born Irene Noblette in El Paso, Texas, to an American father and an Irish emigrant mother, and died on April 26, 1973, in Santa Monica, California, at the widely accepted age of 70, several days following a stroke suffered during a performance of the musical Pippin on Broadway, after which she was flown back to California. She had been diagnosed with a brain tumor some time previously, but reportedly was never made aware of it, although her friend from TV, Nancy Kulp, tried to persuade her not to go to New York for the musical.
[edit] Career
Her career in vaudeville began by touring in an act called "Tim & Irene", with her first husband, actor Tim Ryan, who was also a prolific actor in multiple media. In the mid-1930s they made several short films based on the vaudeville shows.
Her first feature-length movie appearance was a bit part in the 1941 romantic comedy, Unfinished Business, which starred Irene Dunne, Robert Montgomery, and Preston Foster. In 1943's Ann Miller musical, Reveille with Beverly, she had another small part, notable only in that it was her first time working with her ex-husband Tim since their 1942 divorce. Around this time she toured with Bob Hope's renowned USO tours. She later performed on NBC Radio's "The Bob Hope Show", from 1948 to 1950.
Her first starring big-screen role was with her Tim and Ann Corio, in Sarong Girl later in 1943. Tim, Irene, and Corio teamed up again, along with Charles Butterworth, in the Arthur Dreifuss film The Sultan's Daughter in 1944. Also in 1944, Tim and Irene were paired again, along with Dona Drake and Robert Lowery in another musical comedy, Hot Rhythm. In the following 17 years she had various roles in 25 movies, including Bonzo Goes to College and Rockabilly Baby, which also featured Les Brown and His Band of Renown. It was also during this period that she married (1946), and divorced (1961), her second husband, Harold E. Knox.
The Beverly Hillbillies debut in 1962 brought many new fans, as the show jumped to #1 in the USA in three weeks, a feat (as of 2004) not since matched. Popular radio and television actress Bea Benaderet was considered a shoo-in to play "Granny" until the more feisty Ryan auditioned for producer Paul Henning. As a consolation, Henning had his writers come up with the part of "Cousin Pearl" for Benaderet, who became a series regular. Soon afterward, Benaderet was given the starring role in her own spin-off hit series, Petticoat Junction.
Ryan played "Granny" on an episode of Mr. Ed, and appeared on the TV game show Password as well as appearing on several variety shows. After the series' run, she made two Love, American Style appearances; the second one first aired post-humously.
Her final acting role was also her first Broadway role, as "Berthe", grandmother of "Pippin" (played by John Rubinstein) in the popular musical Pippin. Despite performing only one song in the entire show, she would bring down the house nightly with her show-stopping solo, "No Time At All." The song earned her numerous call backs and ovations, especially on the lyric "It's hard to believe I'm being led astray/ By a man who calls me Granny", a reference to her role on the The Beverly Hillbillies. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance, but lost to actress Patricia Elliott from Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music.
[edit] Death
Pallbearers at her funeral included Hillbillies co-stars Buddy Ebsen and Max Baer, Jr., along with Hillbillies creator Paul Henning. The funeral was also attended by Donna Douglas and others associated with the series. Having no living relatives, she left her more than $1,000,000 US estate to fund the Irene Ryan Foundation, which donates scholarships to young theater arts students involved with the Kennedy Center's American College Theater Festival. She is interred a mausoleum crypt at the Woodlawn Memorial Cemetery in Santa Monica, California.
